


Unbuttoned

by Sandoz (Sandoz_Iscariot17)



Category: Firefly
Genre: Angst, Bathing/Washing, F/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-27
Updated: 2011-06-27
Packaged: 2017-10-20 18:42:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandoz_Iscariot17/pseuds/Sandoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon pulls River out of a storm, but it is no drier inside Serenity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unbuttoned

**Author's Note:**

> Firefly and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon. This story contains depictions of sibling incest that are NOT condoned by the author. Set post-series.

Simon had left River sleeping in her bedroom, but he found her outside _Serenity._

“River!” Simon called, wrapping the black rain slicker around his frame as the wind whipped his hair.

She stood alone outside the ship’s loading dock, staring at the heavens. Persephone’s sky was gray, leaden, and heavy beyond the point of bursting. Sheets of rain fell around the siblings. A roll of thunder sounded in the distance. Simon didn’t know how long River had been outside, but he was thankful that she hadn’t wandered far in the storm. As it was, she was already soaked to the skin.

Simon put his hands on his shoulders, gently guiding her back inside. She moved slowly as if caught in a reverie. As he finally pushed her back inside _Serenity_ , River looked at her brother as if noticing him for the first time.

“Oh, Simon. There you are.”

“Yes, here I am,” Simon said, brow furrowed and mouth set in a grim line. “River, you know you shouldn’t leave the ship by yourself.”

“I wanted to have a conversation with the sky. I _had_ to go out,” she explained matter-of-factly, “Because Serenity is a bad translator. But the sky didn’t speak to me. All she did was rain.”

Simon opened the door to his room, ushering his sister inside. “Imagine that.”

He unzipped his rain slicker and let it fall to the floor. River wrapped her arms around herself; a shiver ran through her slender body. Simon was awkwardly aware of the fact that she had gone outside barefoot, clad only in a muslin gown that the rain had glued to her skin. Simon saw the faint indentations of her nipples. Heat spread across his face and neck.

“I’m wet,” River said.

Simon’s eyes widened and he forced himself to look downward. He wavered. “And your feet are dirty. Here, let me…” He bent down and reached under his bed, pulling out a large water basin and a sponge. He filled the basin with warm water from the faucet, adding a little soap. He then set the basin down on the floor; the sudsy water spilled over the top a bit, wetting his fingers.

“Sit down,” Simon said, motioning to the bed. River obeyed, sitting on the edge with her hands resting in her lap. Simon rolled up his sleeves and sat on his knees in front of River, the basin placed between their bodies.

Simon raised River’s left foot; mud and grit clung to the bottom of her heel and between her toes. One at a time, Simon dipped her feet in the water and dabbed at them with the sponge. River’s feet were beautiful, but they were not dainty; they were dancer’s feet, graceful and nimble but strong. She wiggled her toes.

River smiled as Simon rubbed her feet with his hands, turning them a nice warm pink. As he dipped one foot in the basin, however, she kicked it forward, splashing him. Simon flinched as his chest was doused with water.

River giggled. “Now you’re wet too.”

Simon recovered quickly, a crooked smile on his lips. “Don’t be a brat!”

The elder Tam continued to scrub her feet until they were completely clean. River rocked her feet back and forth and sang a playful, improvised song.

“These are my knees…these are my toes…”

A warm feeling spread over Simon as he listened to her. In many ways she was still the bright, lively baby sister that filled his memories, but in still other ways she was a different person—a young woman growing and developing, as unpredictable as the tempest outside.

Cradling both of her feet in his hands, Simon kissed each of her toes, his lips gently brushing them in an act that was almost like a benediction. He was full of love for her, but neither sibling could ignore the fact like his lips lingered on her flesh for a little too long.

“Why did you do that?” River asked. Her voice was curious; there was no note of accusation.

“I…don’t know,” Simon replied.

But a thin shadow of a smile remained on River’s lips, as if she knew the answer.

“I’m cold,” she said.

Simon was grateful for the change of subject. “Would you like a bath?” She nodded.

Simon emptied the basin and filled it with clean water. Though some people would raise an eyebrow at a brother bathing his fully grown sister, it had become routine for Simon and River. He was a doctor, of course; her nudity did not embarrass him, and the simple fact was that she could not be trusted to bathe herself alone (the one time Simon let her do so, he had returned to his room only to find that she had torn the sponge into little bits and left them scattered between his sheets as a “present” to him).

When Simon turned around, he almost dropped the basin.

River had already slipped the straps off her shoulders, and her cream-colored gown was pooled at her feet. She stood completely naked before Simon, the wet curls of her chestnut hair rippling down her back. She gazed at him intently.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Simon set the basin down. He realized his palms were sweating and wiped them on his trousers.

 _What’s wrong with me?_ he wondered. _And why is River so, so…_

River approached him and, to his surprise, began to fiddle with the buttons on his vest.

“You’re all buttoned up,” she said, popping one open. “Too many buttons, too many…”

Simon pushed her hands away. “Don’t,” he cautioned her.

Nonplussed, River replied, “Fair’s fair. Time for a turnaround. It’s no fun if you get to peek but I can’t peek at you.”

Simon wanted to laugh, but something in River’s eyes stopped him. “Let’s not play, River.”

“But this isn’t playing.” One more button popped open. And another. “This is more real than you know.”

Before Simon was aware of it, River had removed his vest and tossed it aside.

Simon’s lips moved; he was trying to mutter excuses, but he didn’t know if words were leaving his mouth. “This is…inappropriate. People will think--”

“We are outlaws. Fugitives. Persons of ill repute. Our reputations are already broken like little teacups. But we’ll build something better out of the shards.”

Shaking his head, Simon placed his hands on her shoulders to quiet her. “ _Mei-mei_ , please. What you want, I can’t…”

River pressed her finger against her lips, smiling mischievously. Though Simon loathed admitting it, it was quite a beguiling smile.

“I told a lie,” she said.

“What?”

She leaned in closer; her breath tickled his ear. “The sky. She told me secret things. She told me why you would kiss me--” A rapid hand slid under his shirt, searching, stroking. “And she told me to touch you _here_.”

Simon gasped, startled by his sister’s demanding caresses. He did not push her away or recoil, however; a powerful feeling was rising inside him, an impure desire for more. River stood on her toes to kiss him, her thick mane of hair still dripping wet like a melting icicle.

It was surprisingly easy for Simon to surrender. After all, he could refuse River nothing, not even this. And she did know the depths of his heart.

“I want to peek,” River said again between the ardent kisses, still playing with the buttons on Simon’s collared shirt. Soon it was discarded. River pulled him to his bed, tugging on his hand like an insistent child. The basin of cooling water was completely forgotten.

River reached for the zipper of his trousers.

“Wait,” Simon said, standing still and suffering one last pang of remorse. He shot a nervous glance at the locked door.

Smiling, River squeezed his hands. “It’s all right. _Serenity_ can’t speak for the sky, but she knows how to keep secrets.”


End file.
